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June 3, 2013

Two Arab-American women, Michigan State Representative Rashida Tlaib and Rana Abbas, a former member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination (ADC) in Michigan, have accusedImad Hammad, the ADC regional Director and Senior National Advisor for Public Affairs of sexually harassing them and several other women. The allegations stretch back to 1999, and apparently a formal complaint submitted to the ADC National Office in 2007 went ignored.

Sexual harassment is the most pervasive form of workplace harassment and takes several forms. According to Tlaib & Abbas, Hamad engaged in aggressive verbal and physical sexual harassment over an extended period of time. Such behavior should never be tolerated, and the failure of the ADC to investigate these allegations immediately after they were brought to the attention of its leadership is as alarming and troubling as the sexual harassment itself.

March 19, 2013

Obama posters crossed out in occupied Ramallah.

As part of an effort to construct and promulgate a public relations narrative in preparation for Barack Obama’s visit to the Middle East, the White House summoned a group of Arab-American “leaders” to a meeting. Overcome by the lure of being invited to the White House and being part of the mainstream these groups and individuals sacrifice intellectual honesty and personal integrity while adopting all the false pretenses of the American imperial project.

Barack Obama met with several so called leaders and organizations that allegedly represent Arab and Muslim Americans ahead of his visit to occupied Palestine. The “Arab-American” groups that attended the meeting were the same unrepresentative, Washington-based cliques that are usually called upon when American politicians need submissive token Arabs to perpetuate the fiction the US government is taking all views into consideration. The groups included the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the two-man American Task Force for Palestine (ATFP), and James Zogby’s one-man shop, the Arab American Institute (AAI).

November 15, 2011

American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee’s ex Media Director and current senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine’s Hussein Ibishwrote the following, encouraging a hierarchical power structure in the Occupy Wall Street over its current decentralized, grassroots format:

The Occupy Wall Street movement, by contrast, shows no signs of being mobilized by a political party or organization to create real change in politics or policy. Any movement so broad-based, leaderless (though there are some organizers who can be identified) and, frankly, unfocused runs the risk of simply fizzling out without leaving any lasting legacy … Arabs should be very familiar with this conundrum. The Egyptian experience in particular has shown the limitations of a leaderless, spontaneous movement. It creates momentum but cannot harness it. That can only be done by organized political groupings.

Gigi Ibrahim

Ibish’s own previous statements undermine the value of the above unsolicited advice to Occupy Wall Street. His concern is more about tailoring popular discourse to his own taste than preserving the movement’s influence. A case in point: he recently reprimanded Egyptian revolutionary Gigi Ibrahim for her criticisms of some Egyptian activists’ lobbying on Capitol Hill.

Ms. Ibrahim had battled Mubarak’s hoodlums in the streets and endured tear gassings and beatings from the Egyptian military. Nevertheless, she became the object of Hussein Ibish and Arab American Institute’s Omar Baddar’s criticisms for rejecting the idea that meaningful change could come from the same institutions of power that had enabled Mubarak, armed Israel and waged wars, occupations and sanctions on millions of Arabs.

September 19, 2011

September 19, 2011

FBI Recruitment Booth At ADC Convention 2007

The ADC is cute.

It spent years collaborating with the FBI and encouraging young Arab-Americans to waste their talents pursuing careers at this ghastly agency. Then, when written evidence of prejudice at the FBI surfaced, American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC) was up in arms (ADC did require written evidence of racism to finally realize the FBI’s modus operandi and to whisper mild criticism).

August 10, 2011

An American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC) insider has confirmed to Ikhras that Ray Hanania, until recently a member of the organization’s National Board of Directors, was ousted from his leadership position on the board by ADC Chair Safa Rifka following an uproar by members and supporters of the ADC at the organization’s 2011 national convention held June 10-12. The following is an exclusive look at the behind the scenes story which includes a time line of events that eventually lead to the ouster of Hanania, and what it all means for an organization struggling to maintain its relevance and regain some credibility within the Arab-American community.

August 2, 2011

[Ikhras Note: Even by the standards of Palestinian-American Zionist Ray Hanania, his recent attack on international solidarity activists aboard the Audacity of Hope, and other ships taking part in the Freedom Flotilla II was particularly despicable. As his inflammatory, offensive rhetoric continues a New York-based justice activist questions how the ADC can maintain even a modicum of credibility as long as Hanania continues his leadership role in the organization.]

By Marlene Newesri

The Audacity of Hope has been renamed “The Audacity of Hate.”

Whether Mr. Ray Hanania is leaving the ADC of his own choice is irrelevant at this point as he is still a Board Member and notably Vice President in Chicago as so stated on the ADC Chicago website.

July 6, 2011

Palestinian-American Zionist, failed comedian, and interfaith marriage counselor Ray Hanania continues denying he was jettisoned by the ADC. He is now saying he declined seeking reappointment in order to focus his work on, among others, Ikhras:

He declined reappointment to another one year term on the ADC National so he could focus on his writings to skewer the extremist hate groups like Ikhras, KabobFest and other fanatics

June 30, 2011

The Arab-American community must stand with the Egyptian people and their continuing struggle for freedom, full sovereignty and independence, human dignity, and social justice. The establishment Arabs in this country are too busy promoting their careers and enjoying their false sense of prestige on the margins of Washington officialdom. In the meantime the Egyptian people continue a struggle (see video previous post) whose outcome is not yet determined, but the victory of which, in this most geopolitically important Arab state, can break foreign imperialist domination of the region and create a new Egypt and with it a new Arab world. Arab-Americans must make the success of the Egyptian people and their 2011 uprising a central concern. The counter-revolution is underway, and the US regime, its allies in Europe, and puppets in the Arab world, first, and foremost, the tyrannical Saudi regime, are working tirelessly to bring the Arab Spring to an end. Given the continuing meddling of the American government in Egypt, and the extensive relationship between the Pentagon and the repressive Egyptian junta that continues to rule, Arab Americans must highlight and oppose the American role in trying to abort the Egyptian revolution, prevent the achievement of the Egyptians’ national aspirations, and subject the well-being of Egypt and the interests of its people to American imperialist designs. This cause is unlikely to be adopted by the establishment Arabs in Washington, but it should be by the entire Arab-American community.

June 23, 2011

The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), according to its website, is “a civil rights organization committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage.” The mission statement continues by claiming that the organization is “non-profit, non-sectarian and nonpartisan.” In reality, the ADC is none of these things.

June 13, 2011

The Arab-American community should continue the current momentum gained from the ADC Malek Jandali scandal until this corrupt and useless organization is completely dissolved. Any leftover ADC letterhead stationary, signs and banners, or cocktail glasses should be tossed into the trash bin at the Saudi embassy in Washington DC.

The Arab Spring blew into Washington, D.C., this weekend, as one of the the nation’s oldest Arab-American groups faced a sharp conflict between friends and patrons in Arab regimes and a generation of Arab-American activists eager to embrace the regional change…Critics suggested the group’s decision was linked to the friendship between ADC chairman Safa Rifka and Syria’s ambassador to the United States…But the ADC’s own members were not prepared to let their organization practice what some saw as an echo of the censorship that’s common across the Arab world. And in a mirror of the protests that have unfolded across the Arab world, many opposed to decision organized against the ADC using social media, angry email chains and word of mouth.

June 12, 2011

The ADC did not name the underwriters and sponsors of their convention on their website, but according to their program the event was underwritten by the Saudi Embassy, and sponsored by the Qatari and United Arab Emirates diplomatic missions. James Zogby‘s “Gibran Gala” last month was also underwritten by the Saudi embassy.

June 11, 2011

From Ikhras Reader Hoda,

The ADC is at it again, this time defending the Syrian regime (see below). I don’t know anything about Malak Jandali or his politics, but the ADC practicing censorship in the service of authoritarian regimes comes at no surprise to me. I’m on their mailing list and it’s so obvious that they’re feeling the pressure from the Arab Left in the US — now all of a sudden they care about Palestine. They granted an award to Ahmet Dogan (father of Furkan Dogan, the 19 y/o Turkish American student executed on the flotilla last year), issued a report on the colonization of the Golan Heights, and are hosting a panel at their $300 conference on the BDS movement (someone should sneak into this panel and distribute printouts of Hussein Ibish’s tweet about dining with the Israeli ambassador to give a good hands-on explanation of why normalization and boycotting do not go hand-in-hand). The ADC could endorse a full revolutionary program and I still wouldn’t trust them — they sure didn’t, and still don’t, support it in the Arab world. Let’s also not forget the despicable press release they issued after OBL’s death was announced in which they reaffirmed their commitment to US empire and empty ideas of American “unity.”

May 10, 2011

A bunch of House Arabs and House Muslims wrote the following open letter to Brahim Zaibat, who until recently was Madonna’s “boytoy.” OK, they didn’t really write this, but they might as well could have, considering their strong desire to grovel to the US mainstream while the US rains death and destruction on innocent populations.

Dear Brahim,

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatu Allah. We are US-based Arab and Muslim organizations. We implore you to reconsider your recent decision to break up with pop star Madonna. Madonna is more famous than fame and you’re the first Arab Muslim to enjoy an intimate relationship with her. Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea what’s at stake here?

Madonna does interfaith

Your behavior reflects poorly on all Arabs and Muslims. You make it look as if Islam is incongruent with Kabbalah and Judaism generally. We will have a hard time explaining your behavior to Zionists at upcoming interfaith dialogue meetings. Many of us have lost sleep contemplating how embarrassing it will be. We just got done swearing to them how happy we are about Osama Bin Laden’s death, then you came along and ruined everything. Now we’re back to square one, proving we’re a tolerant, peaceful bunch, no thanks to you. (Palestine is not discussed at these meetings, in case you were wondering).

Your relationship with Madonna had been the best thing for our image since Rima Fakih. You’re the first Arab Muslim to share a stage with the queen of pop. We couldn’t have dreamed of a more distinctive privilege. Do you know how many deaths your picture dancing alongside Madonna has prevented? When reminded of your relationship with Madonna, which proves our humanity, many a drone attack has been called off and many Arabs and Muslims have been removed off no-fly lists.

As you may know, Madonna is a staunch supporter of Israel. If you rejoin hands with her, you may change her mind to support the creation of a Palestinian state on a whopping 22% of historic Palestine. Do you understand now the kind of serious responsibility you owe the ummah?

In case you had pangs of conscience about dancing with the Material Girl or thought it may be inconsistent with Islam, rest assured that our own in-house sheikhs have issued a fatwa specifically allowing any and all behavior, from participating in beauty pageants to serving in the US Army and occupying Arab and majority-Muslim countries, as long as the end-result is assimilation into the US mainstream.

If you insist that you no longer want to be Madonna’s boytoy, could you at least talk her into considering any ADC intern as a replacement? They’ve got a lot of training dancing to the tunes of war played by the Republican and Democratic Parties.

May 4, 2011

In response to President Bush’s declaration of the so-called ‘War on Terror’ (which, in actuality, is a war of terror), and specifically his declaration of war on Afghanistan in 2001, the ADC National Office under the leadership of Dr. Ziad Assali issued two public statements of support. Thus, the ADC’s position was that it was acceptable to bomb a country in violation of international law, acceptable to criminalize an entire population, acceptable to embrace the decontextualization promoted by the media and the U.S. government – so long as the victims were not Arabs. As then ADC Texas Chapter President Sylvia Shehadeh wrote in her letter of resignation from the ADC, “If we are truly anti discrimination we cannot align ourselves with racist policies and double standards.”

(Ironically, the ADC national office issued their statements of support at the same time that ADC Chapters across the country were protesting against the war – which is indicative of another kind of separation of issues: Arab-American organizations call for their voice to be heard by the U.S. government while refusing to implement democratic reform within their own organizations.) National Arab and Muslim organizations that supported the Bush war against Afghanistan did so out of fear of otherwise appearing unpatriotic in the eyes of the general American public. After doing so, they quickly won the personal support of Bush in publicly condemning domestic acts of racism against Arabs and Muslims, which was effective in reducing the random hate crimes committed against Arabs and Muslims in the U.S., but ineffective in reducing the institutional targeting against them.